Aren’t the rabbits on the cover just the cutest things you have ever seen? As I wrote in “The Publishing Chronicles 2: Design Your Own Book Covers,” the inspiration for my writing sometimes comes from images.
In this case, I saw four pictures of these cute rabbits and had to write four articles. Do you know what isn’t cute—being broke. Thus, throughout the next four articles, we can talk about going from being broke to saving and investing for the future. Here is my gameplan:
- Part 1: Why Are You Broke?
- Part 2: Getting on the Right Path
- Part 3: Becoming Debt-Free
- Part 4: Saving and Investing
Why are you broke? We all have different relationships with money that we need to understand. Most of our programming comes from our parents and the living situations during our childhood.
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If you are older, your parents may have lived through the Great Depression or hyperinflation in the 1980s. If your parents were struggling to get by, you might have adopted some of their struggle mentality (more on that later).
Out of our childhood, we developed limiting beliefs about our money. One of the most significant limiting ideas is that we need to get a job to earn money. This perhaps is the greatest lie told to working-class individuals ever.
The human brain is very creative, and you can train it to produce something new every day. The school system destroys this creativity and forces us into the employee mindset. It is challenging to convert from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
Employee mindset leads to financial ruin. Once we have the idea that we must work to achieve an income, we set the stage to climb the corporate ladder.
Don’t Gamble with Retirement 3 + 4
Today, there is no ladder and no way to climb from (say) software engineer to upper management. Adding to this is the idea that a job is supposed to make you happy. All this crap leads people to lead unfulfilling, unsatisfied, and mundane lives—keeping them broke.
When we are unfulfilled, we search for reasons why our lives are not as great as our parents promised. This is when we look towards racial and gender inequities as reasons. Or we begin to blame our partners for our unhappiness.
Life is tough, especially when you go down the path of blaming things out of your control. The world has never been fairer, and thinking otherwise will destroy you (and your chances of becoming wealthy).
Be Smarter than the Average Bear (Market)
Creativity and Entrepreneurship are the answers. I recently read an article about a Netflix employee who quit his job making $450,000/year. Well, that’s just stupid.
Look, let me be very clear. You don’t work for the fulfillment; you work for money. Your goal is to convert this money into assets that produce more money. You are free once you have enough money from these assets to pay for your lifestyle.
I wrote an article titled “Financial Independence Remain Employed,” where I discussed how you should feel at work. You should be able to walk away from your job at any moment and live the same life.
This Netflix employee could have racked up enough dividends to live his life entirely without working in the example above. Then, and only then, he could quit his job and be FREE.
The Wealth Accumulation Phase: 2 is Better than 1
Don’t fall for this new age thinking that your job will be your savior and somehow transform your life. It’s all crap.
People used to work in coal mines, on railroads and picking cotton. They didn’t find solace in these demanding jobs, but they did them for their family. The way out of this mess is creativity and entrepreneurship.
23 years later. I have been in the same company (US Marine Corps) for 23 years. When I get off work, I look forward to growing my blog and writing business. That is my solace—knowing that I am building something that will stand the test of time.
I am proud that I served my country in Afghanistan and other countries. I hope my children find pride in their father’s service. But, outside of this pride, my true joy comes from creating something that motivates people to become debt-free.
Create a Never-Ending Stream of Content 2
Why does a job need to fulfill your need for creativity and entrepreneurship? A better question is, how is a career supposed to satisfy this need? Anyone can pick up a camera, cellphone, or microphone and become a content creator.
Yes, the path is arduous, but anything worth doing will be difficult. We remain broken and indentured to the system when we don’t pursue our natural creativity and business personalities.
The final reason you are broke. The last reason you are broke is that when you do receive money, you spend it in the wrong order.
I wrote an article titled “The Truth about Discretionary Income,” which provides the low down on how you should spend money. Your real discretionary income comes from your income-producing assets.
Living Overseas Passively on Retirement Income
For example, if you have $50/month in dividend income, that is your discretionary income. Even if you make $15,000/month in income, you can spend your $50 freely. You should spend the rest of your income buying more dividend stocks.
You can also build passive income from thin air by becoming a real estate tycoon, creative, or entrepreneur. The rich are already doing this because they are so far ahead of the poor.
Conclusion. Why do you think that the gap between the rich and poor (no middle class) is growing so fast? The number of people who understand passive income, assets, and leverage decreases every day.
Preferred Shares vs. Closed-End Funds
The school system churns out more employees who will never find happiness every year. The truth is, you can do anything you want in life and have a fantastic experience. You need only focus on collecting income-producing assets along the way.
If you want to live with your parents and paint all day, ensure you can make money from these paintings. Upload these paintings to stock photo sites, NFT outlets, and your own blog. If you continue to paint, you’ll build an audience, and your repetition will proceed you.
However, instead of building a stable of amazing artwork, you’ll try to become an information technology professional. You’ll go into college debt, hate your job, and quit while creating nothing—what a waste.
In the following article, I’ll work on getting you on the right path. These things are probably tough to read, but I have been there. I had a 20-year career before learning what “passive income” is and how to accumulate it. It’s never too late to change!
- PDF of the Month: Don’t Gamble with Retirement 7 (Free 424-Page PDF)
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- Financial Mindset: Become CEO of Yourself 2 (Free 196-Page PDF)
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- Business: Retire Rich, Retire Comfortable with a Business 2 (Free 185-Page PDF)
- Latest DGWR: Don’t Gamble with Retirement 6 (Free 409-Page PDF)
- Everything!: The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 2! (book)(Web Edition)(Art Edition)
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing
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